Mornings
The mornings usually start early. Between 5:30 and 6:00 AM,
as the sun crawls up over the horizon, the girls get up and immediately begin
the routine chores. Someone starts the fire to heat bath water, another sweeps
the courtyard with a straw broom, another gathers and washes dirty dishes from
the night before, another pulls up water from the well, and another mops the
floors of the house. Dad often leaves early to travel from place to place for
his sales job, while mom is always busy with the three little boys. I quickly
learned that I could jump into doing any of the jobs to help out. The girls
don’t stop me from working, but rather are glad that I can be like another
member of the family.
This is a view from my front porch -- the bowls are for doing dishes
After chores I take a bucket bath with hot water. There’s a
little “shower room” in the house that’s nothing more than a cement brick room
with a slanted floor toward the outside wall, with a small hole in it where
water drains outside. When the mornings are cold, the warm water feels so good.
Usually I eat breakfast after bathing. Sometimes it’s bread
and butter and other times rice and sauce from the night before. The hot drink
that went along with was usually a combination of sweetened condensed milk,
Nesquick, and hot water. This combination is not something I’d ever choose in
the States, but here it’s become something I look forward to. Funny how
perspective changes.
Also a view of the yard. Notice the small building deep in the background. That's my toilet. And the well in the middle is where we get water every day.
Mid-morning most of the girls are at school or work.
Sometimes I use this time to read, journal, study the Word, and practice
French. Once in a while I’ll go to Lina’s house (she’s my other teammate in
Niakara) to spend time with her. Other days I’ll go with my sister Assetou to
the hair salon, where I sit and chat a little bit with everyone who works
there.
My new home -- notice the goats hanging out on the porch
Lunch is often around 1 PM and I usually eat at home with my
family. My sisters have a two-hour break from school to come home, eat, and
rest before they go back for the afternoon classes. Often we’ll eat rice and
sauce together around a big bowl. We sit on small wooden stools and reach in
with our right hand. The left hand is considered dirty here because it’s used
for “other things”; to use it for eating is taboo.
Afternoons
The afternoons are usually quiet for me once my sisters
leave for school again at 2 PM. Sometimes mom is home with the boys, and in
those cases, I usually spend time with the boys. My little brothers don’t have
more than two real “toys” but they find garbage scraps and other small objects
to play with. One of their real toys is an inflatable soccer ball. They love
kicking that around together. My baby brother is only five months old. His name
is Ebenezer, and he’s so stinking cute! He is one of the happiest babies ever.
I love holding him on my lap and watching him smile and dance around. It’s also
sweet to carry him on my back like they do here.
I most often take an hour-long nap every afternoon. So
lovely. Afterwards I take more time to read or study. Occasionally I’d walk to
the market and stop to talk with people from church along the way. As one of
the only white people in Niakara, everyone takes note of me.
Evenings
Every evening is a little bit different. A few consistent
things include a hot bucket bath, late-night dinner, and talking with my
sisters. Three different evenings a week we spend at church: Wednesday night
Bible study, Friday night youth group, and Saturday night prayer meeting. The
other evenings I usually hang out at home while my sisters are working on
homework. But occasionally I’ll walk with one sister to visit other people. I’m
almost always served some type of food when I go into someone’s home, even if
it’s as simple as fresh peanuts they harvested at the farm.
The night winds down for me at about 10 o’clock. I take time
to brush my teeth under the stars and wash my face with well water. My goal is
to be in bed by 10:30 PM, though my sisters are often up much later than that
finishing homework. As a “baby” here, adjusting to the new life, I know that
sleep is crucial for my body, soul, and mind.
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